New Baby, Then Tragic news...what Can I Do to Help? Meals, Sitting...?

Let's see . . .

chilli
lasagna
baked ziti
chicken breasts - you can just season them and put them in the marinade and all she has to do is thaw them and bake them.
bbq beef for sammies - put the beef in a crockpot and when it is done just shred it, add bbq sauce and put it in a ziplock container.

AS to what else you can do? Just be there. Call her and see her. When my mom died my close friends watched my kids, cleaned my house, listened to me. In short, they loved me and told and showed me every single day.

My sister just lost her husband to cancer 2 weeks ago at the age of 43. So many people brought over food/drinks/paper products. It has been so wonderful. Some of the food items that came were cooked chicken & noodles, box of mashed potatoes, frozen corn, rolls, a spiral ham, stew, chili, frozen boxed lasagna and frozen garlic bread, veggie trays, ham, cheese and buns, desserts, and a few casseroles. The best was all the capris suns for the kids and pop, plastic silverware, cups, plates and napkins. We had plenty of food but would have ran out of the paper products so quick had someone not brought them. She had so many family members coming and going for days that all these items came in handy. One neighbor even brought over a few gift certificates for Pizza Hut and Papa Johns. But the most important thing that you can do for your friend is be there for her when she needs to talk. My sister has been so worried about the thank you cards, so I went over 2 afternoons this week and helped her to write, address and stamp them. We only have 25 left to go. I know that has relieved some stress from her. Babysitting is a great idea, as well, and cleaning her house or doing some laundry. If she needs to spend quality time with her mother, have her bring her children to you for the day or evening. Your heart is in the right place!! Maybe even offer to grocery shop for her and her mother! Just being a great friend to her in such a difficult time will mean alot to her. I am so sorry for her loss and the pain you are suffering watching her in pain. I know that pain too well these days!!

For a freezer friendly dish I make an easy chicken parmesan.
I just get those plastic baking pans that have lids and you can reuse or dispose. I put in some Ragu (Big Jar) and boneless skinless chicken breast and more Ragu and bake at 350 for an hour or so until the internal temp is good. Add some mozzarella cheese and cool. I put foil and then the plastic lid to keep air out. It freezes and reheats easy. Then they can decide to make a pasta to go with it, but I do take a box of frozen garlic bread or bread sticks.
It is very easy to make I promise and pretty much everybody likes chicken!

It's nice to hear of someone that wants to help....Some good meal ideas that freeze well and are easy to cook when ready are lasagna, chili,& homemade soups. Also breakfast casseroles would be a nice change since most people think of dinner, but not breakfast and they freeze well and you just pop them in the oven to cook. You can google any of these recipes and find sites that you can look through and find a recipe that would suit you. Another thing you can offer to help with (other than babysitting) would be to help with any funeral preparations. Come up with some music ideas and then give that to them. Tell them you can make phone calls to extended family or friends to inform them of the sevice times and such. A really hard part is calling all these people and reliving the experience (by telling the details)over and over. You can offer to clean for them esp. if they will be having guests at their house. But most of all just be a friend to your friend and be there for her to cry on your shoulder. A new mom needs extra help w/o any other circumstances so anything you can do to help keep her house in order will actually help a little with keeping her mind in order. I know for me after I had my 3rd. i was having a hard time keeping house and I felt like I was a terrible mom which only made me feel even worse. Good luck!

p.s. i like reginas idea of KFC. You could go buy anything for dinner and take it there.

If you have a crockpot, you can make the following recipe. Easy and delicious. Also, does your friend have a church affiliation? When my husband lost his brother, & we had twin boys, we couldnt have gotten through it without the support of our church. If she does, make a phone call for her and let them know what she needs. I am sure many people would volunteer to help her.
Here is the recipe.
Hope this helps.

Crockpot Salsa Swiss Steak

This simple recipe updates a classic; the steak cooks to tender perfection in your slow cooker.
INGREDIENTS:
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1-1/2 lbs. boneless beef top round steak
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
2 onions, chopped
10 oz. can condensed cream of mushroom soup
1 cup chunky salsa
PREPARATION:
Trim fat from steak. Heat oil in large skillet. Sprinkle steak with salt and pepper and cook in the oil for about 5 minutes or until browned, turning once. Place in 4-6 quart slow cooker. Top with onion. In the skillet where you cooked the steak, combine soup and salsa and mix well with drippings. Pour over steak in crockpot. Cover and cook on LOW setting for 8-10 hours, or High for 4-6 hours.

i think you already have the right idea on ways to help. obviously you care a lot for her friend and i'm sure she knows it, but i think more than cooking just make sure you verbally let her know that you will help in any way that you can, be it sitting or cooking, or just being there to listen and provide a shoulder for crying.
for recipes, check out allrecipes.com. you can find recipes for anything and everything on that site.
best wishes to you, your friend and her family.

You can make lasagna. It is very easy to make and goes a long way. Here is a simple recipe that doesn't take to long.
Cook the lasagna noodles like you would spaghetti noodles.
Brown your hamburger meat and add spaghetti sauce.
Preheat your oven to 350.
Get a cassarole dish and put a light coating of the sauce on the bottom of the pan so the noodles don't stick.
Put noodles, sauce and shredded mozzarella cheese and repeat the layers until the dish is full. I wouldn't suggest putting ricotta cheese or cottage cheese because some people do not like them.
Put it in the oven until the cheese is melted on top.
If you use a 9 by 13 dish you will get quite a bit of lasagna. You can also just pick up any mess around the house if you are over there visiting. I hope this helps you in any way. You sound like a wonderful friend. God bless you.

That is terrible news about her father. I think you already got some great ideas. I always google "recipes" and I think allrecipes.com comes up and you can find some good stuff in there. Salads are nice too- like someone suggested.

Great ideas also offering to do laundry or clean up the toys and vacuum or wash dishes...those are wonderful ideas. If you aren't opposed to baby sitting the older child, I am sure the offer would be appreciated if they needed it.

You could even assemble bowls of salads, cut up fruits and/or vegetables, 'breakfast trays' of rolls/bagels/coffee cakes, just to give more of an assortment other than dinners.

It's so nice of you to want to help your friend out in this way :)

This may sound weird, but i like to compile the makings for tacos. So easy to make the meat or chicken, cut tomatos, lettuce, cheese, busy slasa etc. They can make them their way then. Also you could but up fruit or veggies for them, help do laundry, take the older child to your house for a break, offer to run errands to the store, target, etc.

offer to do laundry, general housecleaning, pick up groceries, stuff like that. its stuff that needs done for the living but in hectic times is often forgotten. best of all, just be there to listen to whatever comes out of her mind.

Tater Tot Casserole:

Put 2 lb bag of frozen tater tots in a cake pan (13x9) and place in the oven. Turn oven on to 350. The tater tots will thaw a bit as the oven preheats.

Meanwhile - brown 1 lb ground beef and drain.

In a bowl, mix 1 can cream of mushroom (or broccoli) soup, 1 can corn or peas (undrained) 1/2 soup can of milk, salt and pepper to taste. Add ground beef and mix.

Spread the ground beef mixture over the tater tots. Top with 2 cups grated cheddar cheese (or any type you like).

Bake for 30 mins.

Simple and everyone loves it!

My father just passed in February, I have 3 children 16, 16 & 3. I was so busy with arrangements, I know that food was a huge help. One friend made muffins that my sons could reheat for breakfast. I also like to make roast in the crock pot, just cover the roast with campbell's cream mushroom soup and let cook all day, shread the roast in the gravy made by the soup and drippings. In a pot on the stove, boil noodles, once they are done, add the noddles into the beef and gravy mixture. You could always put the meal into several freezer safe containers then your friend can freeze and use in the coming month for a meal.

Lazanna is a great food that can be frozen and reheated. It is good for many days,.......if you are not the Martha Stewart of the Kitchen then it is just as goos to get some Kentucky Fried Chicken and take it over (you could even put it in your own dishes if you would like) People love chicken and they will appreciate it no matter what you take over.......

I am sorry to hear the sad news. My prayers are for her and her family.

Hi K..

Terrible news, and thoughtful of you to help. Check out Campbell's recipe site - they have easy to prepare dishes that taste great - baked spaghetti is on there. Another comfort dish may be chicken & noodles, etc. If you want to spend the money, there are places like Main Dish Kitchen or Dream Dinners where you can buy frozen meals homemade dinners and take to them. Very convenient. Other thoughts may be go to Sams Club and buy some frozen items - Lasagna, frozen fish or chicken and frozen vegetables. There are big varieties of heat and eat type things. A nice plant that can be planted outside is a good idea too - as it grows, etc they can reflect on the situation. Hope that this info helps.